A war has been raging for billions of years,

每天都是數以萬億計的殺戮，我們卻毫無所覺。

killing trillions every single day, while we don't even notice.

在這場血腥大戰中的主角就是這世界最致命的實體：

The war is fought by the single deadliest entity on our planet:

【噬菌體】

the bacteriophage

【好聽的開場音樂】

or 'phage' for short.

噬菌體是一種病毒

[Intro + Music]

你不能說它有生命，

A phage is a virus;

也不能說它沒有生命。

not quite alive,

它們看起來就像是被精心打造出來的樣子，

not quite dead.

它頭部的外形是一個"二十面體"，

Also, they look as if someone made them up.

就像是一個有著20個面和30條邊的骰子。

Their head is an icosahedron,

在這個頭部裡頭裝著它的遺傳物質，

a sort of dice with 20 faces and 30 edges.

下方通常接著一條長尾巴，上頭有一些纖維狀細腿。

It contains the genetic material of the virus

噬菌體的數量要比地球上所有生物(包含細菌在內)

and often sits on a long tail that has leg-like fibers.

的總和還要來得多。

There are more phages on earth than every other organism combined,

幾乎只要有生命的地方都可以看見他們的蹤影。

including bacteria.

在你的手上、腸道裡和眼皮上的噬菌體可多達數十億。

And they are probably everywhere living things exist.

得知自己與這死神級殺手共枕的消息，可能會讓你坐立難安，

Billions are on your hands, in your intestines and your eyelids right now.

不過，先別緊張。

Which might make you nervous since phages are responsible for the majority of deaths on earth

雖然"種族滅絕"是它們的家常便飯，

but you're lucky.

但它們只對細菌下手。

While they do commit genocide for breakfast,

它們每天最多可以殺掉海洋中所有細菌的四成。

they only kill bacteria.

然而看似強大的噬菌體並非沒有弱點，

Up to 40% of all bacteria in the oceans are killed by them every single day.

噬菌體就像其他的病毒一樣需要宿主來寄生和繁殖。

But phages also have major flaws.

說穿了它們不過是個帶著殼的一團遺傳物質，

Like any other virus, phages need a host to survive and reproduce.

而且有特化的能力。

They're not much more than genetic material in a hull

通常一種噬菌體只會選擇某一種特定細菌來寄生，

and they specialize.

頂多再包含到它們的近親家族。

Usually, a phage has chosen one specific bacteria

這些細菌就是他們的獵物。

and maybe some of its very close relatives.

噬菌體就像是只會擊殺特定細菌家族的巡航導彈。

These are its prey.

當噬菌體鎖定了它的獵物時，

Imagine a phage as like a cruise missile that only hunts and kills members of one very unlucky family.

它的尾絲就會附著上去，

When a phage finds its victim,

並且用像是注射針的東西刺穿細菌的表層。

it connects its tail fibers with receptors and uses a sort of syringe to puncture a surface.

噬菌體會將它的遺傳物質從其尾部注入細菌內部。

In a weird motion, the phage squeezes its tail and injects its genetic information.

在幾分鐘時間內它就會刧持和接管一切，

Within minutes, the bacteria is taken over.

然後強迫細菌開始製造新噬菌體的零件。

It's now forced to manufacture all the parts of new phages.

它們在新的噬菌體擠滿細菌內部之前是不會停手的。

They only stop when the bacteria is filled up with brand-new phages.

在最後的那一刻，

In the final step,

它們會釋放出【內溶素】，

they produce 'endolysin',

那是種強力的酶，可以在細菌的身上打出個洞來。

a powerful enzyme that punches a hole in the bacteria.

內部的高壓會讓細菌死於猛烈的爆漿。

The pressure is so high that the bacteria sort of vomits out all of its insides and dies.

被釋出的新生噬菌體會展開一輪全新的循環歷程。

New phages are released and begin the cycle anew.

在最近這幾年間，

In the last few years,

噬菌體獲得了世界上第二致命物種的關注，

bacteriophages have enjoyed the attention of the second deadliest beings on earth:

也就是我們人類。

humans.

最近我們已經著手研究要將噬菌體注射進身體，

Recently, we've started looking into injecting millions of them into our bodies

因為我們正在陷入絕望的困境中，

because we're sort of getting desperate;

那完全是我們自己捅出來的。

we screwed up.

在過去一個小小的傷口 或者隨便喝了地上一口水都會喪命

In the past a single cut or a sip from the wrong puddle could kill you.

細菌就像是我們的噬菌體一樣

Bacteria were our phages.

殘忍的獵殺我們這些小怪物

Tiny monsters that hunted us mercilessly.

在一百年前左右 我們在大自然中找到了一個解決方案

But then, about 100 years ago, we found a solution in nature.

我們意外地發現了 真菌會製造一種可以殺死細菌的化合物

By accident, we found fungi that produced compounds that killed bacteria:

抗生素

antibiotics.

我們一夜之間便擁有一批強大的超級武器

Suddenly, we had a powerful super weapon.

抗生素強大到讓我們忘記細菌曾是一個可怕的怪物

Antibiotics were so effective that we stopped thinking of bacteria as monsters.

只有老弱者們會被細菌殺死

Only the old and the weakest among us were killed by them.

我們的抗生素越用越多 而且越來越常用在不重要的小病上

We used antibiotics more and more for less and less serious causes.

我們越來越不把怪物放在眼裡

We lost respect for the monsters and the weapon

但細菌是會進化的 而且一個接一個對我們的武器免疫了

But bacteria are living things that evolve and one by one they started to become immune against our weapons.

這個情況持續直到我們創造出了「超級細菌」

This continued until we had created what are called 'superbugs',

對我們所有武器都免疫的細菌

bacteria immune to almost everything we have.

這種超級細菌正在全世界傳播

This immunity is spreading across the world as we speak.

到2050年死於超級細菌的人 將會比癌症還要多

By 2050, superbugs could kill more humans a year than cancer.

因為小小傷口及小小咳嗽就會帶走你和你所愛的人 這樣的日子已慢慢重現了

The days when a cut or bladder infection or a cough could kill you or your loved ones are coming back.

目前僅在美國每年就有2萬3千個人死於耐藥菌

In the US alone, more than 23,000 people die from resistant bacteria each year.

然而這個小小病毒機器人「噬菌體」 可能可以拯救我們

But it turns out that phages, our tiny killer virus robots, could save us.

我們可以把它們注入身體中去治療感染

We can inject them into our bodies to help cure infections.

等等...把那麼多病毒注入身體中 怎麼會是個好主意？

Hold on, how could injecting millions of viruses into an infection be a good idea?

噬菌體是非常特化的細菌殺手

Phages are very very specialized killers of bacteria.

特化到人類實際上對他們完全免疫

So specialized, in fact, that humans are completely immune to them;

我們的差異太大了

we are too different.

我們每天會遇到上億個噬菌體 然而我們只是禮貌地忽略對方

We encounter billions of phages every day and we just politely ignore each other.

抗生素就像地毯式轟炸一般毀滅一切

Antibiotics are like carpet bombing, killing everything even the good bacteria in our intestines that we don't want to harm

包含我們其實不想傷害的益菌

Phages are like guided missiles that only attack what they're supposed to

噬菌體就像導彈一樣 只擊殺那該被擊殺的

Wait a minute, if we use phages to kill bacteria, won't bacteria develop ways of defending themselves?

等一下，如果我們用噬菌體去對付細菌...

Well, it's more complex than that; phages evolved too.

那細菌會不會進化到也對噬菌體免疫呢?

There has been an arms race between them and bacteria for billions of years and so far, they're doing great.

嗯...這機制比你想得更複雜

This makes phages smart weapons that are constantly getting better at killing.

噬菌體也會進化

But even if bacteria were to become immune against our phage, we still might be able to win.

噬菌體和細菌間的軍備競賽已持續了上億年

It turns out that in order to become resistant to even just a few species of phages,

而且噬菌體挺有優勢的

bacteria have to give up their resistance to antibiotics.

這使得噬菌體成了一種 會自動進化擊殺技巧的智慧型武器

We might be able to trap them in a catch-22.

就算到最後細菌也對噬菌體免疫了

This has already been successfully tested with a patient who had no other hope left

我們還是能夠獲勝

The bacteria 'Pseudomonas Aeruginosa', one of the most feared bacteria, infected the man's chest cavity.

結果就是

They are naturally resistant to most antibiotics

細菌要是想增加對於某幾種噬菌體的抗性

and can even survive an alcoholic hand gel.

細菌就必須相對地放棄它們對抗生素的抗性

After years of suffering, a few thousand phages were directly inserted into his chest cavity

我們就可以利用雙面困境來逮住它們

together with antibiotics the bacteria were immune to.

這些成果已經在一位沒有其他希望的患者上 成功試驗過了

After a few weeks, the infections had completely disappeared.

綠膿桿菌，一種十分可怕的細菌 感染了這個人的胸腔

Unfortunately, this treatment is still experimental and pharma companies are still reluctant to invest the necessary billions

這種細菌天生對多種抗生素免疫

in a treatment that has no official approval yet.

即使含有酒精的洗手液也無法完全殺死他們

But things are finally changing.

在病了幾年後 讓幾千個噬菌體直接注射到他的胸腔中

In 2016, the largest phage clinical trial to date began and phages are getting more and more attention.

以及綠膿桿菌已經免疫的一些抗生素

and we better get used to it because the era in which antibiotics have been our super weapon is drawing to a close.

幾周後，感染完全消失

It might be a weird concept but injecting the deadliest being on planet Earth

不幸的是，這種療法依然是實驗性的 製藥公司並不是很願意投資這種

directly into our bodies could save millions of lives

沒有通過官方批准的療法

This video was made possible by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

但事情總算有了變化

If you'd like to support Kurzgesagt, you can do so on patreon.com/Kurzgesagt and get fancy things in return.

在2016年，啟動了世界最大的噬菌體臨床實驗